


Mementos

by bobayoda



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008) - All Media Types
Genre: Gen, Order 66, Post-Dangerous Debt, Season 7 Spoilers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-18
Updated: 2020-04-18
Packaged: 2021-03-02 04:15:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,471
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23708998
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bobayoda/pseuds/bobayoda
Summary: “What’s wrong?” Trace said, frowning, setting down her tools.Rafa ignored her question as she came to a stop in front of her. “Are you okay?”“Of course,” Trace replied, confused. “Rafa, what’s going on?”“Something’s happened up top.”
Comments: 2
Kudos: 97





	Mementos

It was two weeks, maybe less, after Ahsoka left, that it happened. 

Trace didn’t realize what had happened at first, when she heard exclamations from outside the shop. She assumed it’s just some brawl and if credits were involved, which they usually are, she knew well enough to stay out of it. Besides, after Oba Diah, she’d had more than enough action to last a lifetime. 

Life on the lower levels was stressful, of course, but everything involved with the Pykes overshadowed that by far. How Ahsoka had dealt with things like that happening all the time, she didn’t know. Nor did she want to.

The shouts eventually died down and Trace got back to work on the  _ Silver Angel _ . It had barely been ready before the business with the Pykes, and not only did it need finishing, it now needed extensive repairs to almost everything. 

She’d barely started when Rafa came running in, looking more stricken than she had even been on Oba Diah. 

“What’s wrong?” Trace said, frowning, setting down her tools.

Rafa ignored her question as she came to a stop in front of her. “Are you okay?” 

“Of course,” Trace replied, confused. “Rafa, what’s going on? Is this about the fight outside?”

“What? What fight are you talking about? Trace, something’s happened up top.” 

She couldn’t explain why, but the words made her blood run cold. “What do you mean?”

Rafa shook her head, beginning to pace. “I was making a deal a few levels up, and I heard people shouting. We all went to see what was happening and… there was smoke coming from the temple. And someone said they’d heard battle sounds on some of the higher levels.”

“Was it the Separatists?” Trace asked. “Are they attacking Coruscant?”

“I don’t know. I feel like we’d be seeing dogfights and droids, but I haven’t heard a thing.” 

“Well, I’m sure that if they are attacking, the Republic can hold them off, right? I mean-” the sound of blaster fire interrupted them both and the ground under their feet shook.

Their eyes met at the same time, fear shooting through them. It felt just like last time. Just before their parents…

“It’s a Republic ship!” Someone outside the shop yelled, running past their door. 

“Trace…” Rafa started, not getting another word out as she took off towards the door, cursing as she went to follow her sister. 

A crowd had gathered, watching a ship, smoking, hurtled down the expressway, dropping multiple levels at a time. 

“It’s a Delta-7B interceptor,” Trace said, sounding almost awestruck. “A Jedi starfighter.”

Rafa, ever the pragmatist, frowned. “And it’s coming right towards us. Get down!” She grabbed Trace by the arm and wrenched her back. 

The rest of the crowd realized what she had moments before and with shouts and screams, also scrambled back. The starfighter hit the walkway, skidding across it with a horrible screech, coming to a stop just before them. 

There was a moment of prolonged silence and then Trace started forward. 

“What are you doing?” Rafa hissed, trying to pull her back. 

Her sisted pulled her arm free, glaring at her. “The pilot might still be alive!” She pushed through the crowd and ran to the door, peering through the transparisteel canopy. “Rafa! Help me get it open!” 

The ship had been mangled from the crash, but with some help from a few others, the two sisters were able to pry it open, pulling the pilot from the wreckage. Like Trace had expected, it was a Jedi, barely conscious but alive.

“Are you okay?” Trace asked while Rafa looked up. 

“Republic gunships,” she said, tapping her sister lightly on the shoulder. 

“Good. Don’t worry,” she said to the Jedi, looking to see if he was injured. “Reinforcements are coming.”

The Jedi shifted at that, looking dazedly at the two sisters. “The clones… They…”

“They’re here,” Rafa said, crouching with her sister as the ships landed by the wreckage.

“No!” He croaked, sounding urgent now. “The clones… they betrayed…”

“Step away from the wreckage.” A voice cut him off. The sisters looked up to see a small group of clones, their commander at the head.

“What happened?” Trace asked, not moving.

“Trace…” Rafa murmured. “Something’s not right here…”

“Was it the Separatists?” She continued, ignoring her sister. “We heard there were attacks on the surface.”

“I said step away.” The commander repeated, drawing his blaster.

“What-” Trace started, pausing as her sister started to draw her away. “Rafa, stop it.”

“The Jedi are traitors to the Republic.” The commander continued, addressing the crowd. “They attempted to assassinate the Chancellor. For your safety, step back.”

That made both of them stop dead. 

Trace looked between the clones and the Jedi, who was now struggling to his feet. She didn’t like the Jedi any more than Rafa did if she was being honest, but she wasn’t sure she believed that they were traitors either. If anything, it always seemed like they were loyal more to the Republic than anything else. 

“I won’t ask again.” The commander said, stepping forward. 

Rafa pulled at Trace again. “Come on.”

“No, wait. This doesn’t make any sense.” Trace insisted, stumbling when Rafa pulled harder. “Rafa, you know this doesn’t--”

“Do you want to get killed?” She hissed. “We need to stand down.”

A moment of hesitation on Trace’s part was all Rafa needed, bringing her back to the edge of the crowd and holding her tight. 

The clones filled that space, surrounding the Jedi. 

“They don’t even have cuffs, how are they going to bring him in?” Someone behind Trace asked quietly. 

It took a moment for Trace to realize what was about to happen and her blood ran cold as she watched, almost in slow motion, as the clone commander raised his blaster. The Jedi started to lurch forward, only to be thrown back with the force of the blaster bolt.

Sounds of shock and horror rippled through the crowd and Trace couldn’t let her gaze move from the now-dead Jedi, his blank eyes staring straight through her. She didn’t even realize she was straining forward until Rafa forced her back.

Two of the clones picked up the Jedi’s body and, instead of loading it into the gunship, hoisted it over the railing, letting it drop down the expressway. The rest of Trace’s resolve left her, and she felt suddenly lightheaded. 

“That’s enough,” the commander said to them all. “Go back to your lives. If you see any Jedi, report them immediately. Anyone found harboring a Jedi will be executed on sight.”

The crowd dispersed slowly, all murmuring to one another and Rafa led the still stunned Trace back to the shop, closing and locking the doors. 

“I don’t understand.” Trace said softly. “I… I don’t think the Jedi would betray the Republic. Why would they try to assassinate the Chancellor.”

“It doesn’t matter,” Rafa said, starting to gather boxes.

“What do you mean ‘it doesn’t matter’?!” Trace said, suddenly furious. “Of course it matters. They just executed that man! I know you don’t like the Jedi and I don’t either but-”

“I never said I didn’t agree!” Rafa shot back. “No, I don’t like the Jedi, but you’re right. What they said doesn’t make sense. But I don’t see what we can do about it.” 

Trace shook her head with a sigh, only to freeze with dread.“Oh, maker… Rafa… What about Ahsoka?”

Rafa stopped at that, frowning to herself. “I was just thinking about her.”

“You don’t think…”

“I don’t know.” 

Trace glanced at the bike, suddenly feeling like she was suffocating. It had only been a couple of weeks since Ahsoka had left it with them, promising to come back to get it, and now… 

“We have to go get her.” She said abruptly, looking to Rafa, who stared incredulously at her.

“Are you joking? We can’t go get her. We don’t even know if she’s-” 

“She’s alive!” Trace shouted, surprising herself with it. “She has to be!”

Rafa paused, looking guilty. “I’m sure she is, Trace. But we don’t even know where she went. And we don’t know if she’s there now. But by now she has to know what’s happened. She probably… sensed it or something. She probably went into hiding.”

“We can’t let it be like this though,” Trace said, pacing. “We have to go help her. We need to find her.”

“Trace, aren’t you listening? We don’t even know where to look. And if she’s in hiding, the  _ last _ thing she needs is people trying to track her down. What if we lead them right to her? Then we’re all done for.” Rafa said, taking Trace by the shoulders. “I don’t like it either. I know you think I hate her, but if there was something we could do without getting ourselves killed, I would be for it.”

She hung her head, defeated. Even if Ahsoka was alive… They’d probably never see each other again. If Trace had known, she’d have talked a little longer or delayed her leaving. She’d say goodbye properly. Now it was too late. For all of them. Whatever had happened, things would never be the same.

“I’m sorry Trace,” Rafa said softly, pulling her into a hug. When she pulled back, she squeezed her shoulders. “Is the  _ Silver Angel _ able to fly?”

“What do you mean?” Trace frowned, glancing up. “I thought we weren’t going after Ahsoka?”

“We’re not,” Rafa said, grabbing a crate. “But Coruscant is going to get worse. I can just feel it. We need to get off-planet as soon as possible.”

“What about the debts? The laundromat?” She asked, confused.

“Doesn’t matter. Look, you’ve got to trust me. As much as I’d like to settle everything before we leave, I think the sooner we get out of here, the better. You know I’m right.” She started grabbing Trace’s stuff, putting it in one of the crates. “I’ll sell the laundromat, we can use the credits to start somewhere else.”

Trace sighed, rubbing the back of her neck. All her life, she had wanted to take her ship and get out of Coruscant, but she hadn’t wanted it to be like this. She wanted to be free, not running away. “She’ll fly. As long as we avoid trouble, we’ll be okay.”

Rafa nodded, closing the crate. “I’ll take care of the laundromat, you pack up here, only the essentials and anything we can sell along the way, okay? Don’t take anything we don’t need.”

Trace nodded and, after a moment Rafa pulled her into another hug. “We’re going to be fine, but we just need to get out of here first.”

With that, she left the hangar to finish her business. Trace did her best not to think about Ahsoka as she loaded the  _ Silver Angel _ , but she couldn’t help it.

What had caused this? She didn’t believe the Jedi had betrayed the Republic, but it was just as hard to comprehend the Republic’s sudden turn on the Jedi. How had things changed so fast? And what had happened to Ahsoka? Was Rafa right? Had she sensed it and got away? Did she survive the attack? Or was she like the Jedi from the wreckage? Lying dead who-knows-where? Her eyes staring blankly at nothing?

She leaned against the wall of the ship, nauseous. She didn’t know which would be worse: not knowing, or finding out the worst had happened. At least in her ignorance, she could pretend Ahsoka was still out there, in hiding. 

There was only one thing left in the hangar now: Ahsoka’s bike, sitting on the worktable like a memorial. A memento of a friend who was lost, alive or not. 

If she had any sense, she’d sell it. Or scrap it for parts. It would be smart, a practical move on her part. 

But she couldn’t bring herself to do either. 

The bike felt even heavier than it should when she hoisted it into the ship, tucking it away carefully just as Rafa returned, holding up a bag of credits.

“It’s not as much as I would’ve liked,” she said apologetically, “but I’m not the only one sensing the changes coming. It’s the best I could get.”

“It’ll be enough.” Trace said. “We can sell parts and scrap metal when we get out. We’ll figure it out.”

Rafa smiled weakly at that, patting her on the shoulder. “That’s the spirit. Do we have everything?” Trace nodded silently. “Alright then, let’s get out of here. A lot of people are planning on bailing after the Chancellor’s broadcast, we can get lost in the rush.”

She nodded again and the pair moved to the cockpit. Trace pushed the memories of the past from her head, focusing on the control panel as she began takeoff. Like Rafa had expected, the expressways and underworld portals alike were full of ships as they rose level by level. As they reached the higher levels, their radio caught the broadcast, echoing what the clones had told them. 

“ _ Under the Empire's New Order, our most cherished beliefs will be safeguarded. We will defend our ideals by force of arms. We will give no ground to our enemies and will stand together against attacks from within or without. Let the enemies of the Empire take heed: those who challenge Imperial resolve will be crushed. _ ” 

Rafa and Trace exchanged a glance at those words and she felt her stomach sink even further. 

“You were right,” Trace said quietly. “It’s going to get worse. Not only here. It’s going to get bad everywhere.” 

They continued to listen to the speech in silence, each word making her feel sicker. She wanted to turn it off, she could tell Rafa did too, but neither of them could move. It was like watching an accident. No matter how much you wanted to look away, you were cursed to watch. 

“ _ We have been tested, but we have emerged stronger. We move forward as one people: the Imperial citizens of the First Galactic Empire. We will prevail. Ten thousand years of peace begins today. _ ”

With that, the broadcast stopped with the crackle of radio static and a crushing silence that lasted until they were past the atmosphere. 

“I wish I had been wrong,” Rafa replied, gazing out the cockpit, watching as the city got smaller and smaller.

Trace entered the hyperspace calculations for Jakku, the first planet they could agree on where they could sell some of their scrap metal and parts, pausing to look out at the planet as well and then towards the back of the ship, where Ahsoka’s bike sat. Hopefully one day they could meet again, and Trace could give the bike back. 

“I wish so too,” she said softly, flipping the switch and watching Coruscant disappear. 

**Author's Note:**

> This arc is going to be the end of me


End file.
